


We are not Merry Men

by GaiusTheGenius



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic, Robin Hood (BBC 2006)
Genre: AU, F/F, F/M, I'll update the relationships tags as I go, M/M, idk i was rereading the books and also rewatching this show, idk yet apart from the canon ships, this has not been proof-read
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 22:16:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12467116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaiusTheGenius/pseuds/GaiusTheGenius
Summary: Returning home from retrieving his cousins, Nicky Hemmick finds that the new sheriff - known to the villagers as "the Butcher" - has placed his village of Palmetto under the rule of the cruel Riko Moriyama. Nicky, Aaron and Andrew, not happy with Riko's treatment of the villagers of Palmetto, decide to confront the new sheriff, but things Do Not go to plan...Basically an excuse to write the Foxes as outlaws





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> So at the moment I am planning to follow the episodes of the BBC Robin Hood, so some of the dialogue and basic plot lines will be lifted from the show, but adapted to fit the AFTG characters. Each episode is looking to be two chapters of fic? Tags will be updated as I go.

Grey morning light filtered through the trees, hitting upon a thin blanket of mist that rose up from the dewy floor. Softly the sounds of the waking forest rustled through the air: quiet birds, rustling mammals in the undergrowth. And, in a leaf-strewn clearing less than a mile from the road, a man pleading.

“You know the law,” a stern-faced guard dressed entirely in black stared impassively at his white-faced captive. The man, whose own black clothes were ripped and mud-stained.

“Please,” the man whispered. “How am I supposed to hunt?”

“You’re not,” snorted one of the guards, yanking the man toward a fallen log. “These woods and everything in them belong to the Sherriff. You have stolen from him and must return for trial.” The man looked as though he was going to be sick. “Or,” continued the guard, with a cruel twist to his mouth, “if you admit your guilt now and spare us the trial, your punishment will be lessened. Malcolm here will just take a finger.”

The man swallowed, staring at Malcolm, who was twirling a knife. “I would lose a trial,” he muttered. “And the Butcher would take my hand.” He glanced at the man holding him. “Take the finger. Please, take the finger and let me go.”

Malcolm grinned. “Place your hand here,” he directed, wiggling his fingers on the fallen log. “Spread them nice and wide, mind. Don’t want my aim to slip and catch more than one-“

He cut off with a cry of shock as a knife thudded into the log between his index and middle finger. The other guards jerked their heads, searching for the thrower.

“Oops!” called a voice, mocking, from the trees to the side. “Looks like my aim is a little off, too! Maybe you should let him go, before my aim improves?”

A short blond man stepped out into the clearing, a second knife dangling, deceptively casually, from him fingers. He tapped two fingers to his head with a smirk in a derisive salute. “We’ve got you surrounded,” he grinned. “Isn’t that interesting?” Branches on either side of the clearing rustled and the man’s grin grew wider as the guards’ eyes darted from side to side, trying and failing to catch sight of their assailants. “Off you pop.” He said, flicking his fingers at the Sherriff’s men, and with a glance at each other, they shoved their captive at the blonde man and turned back to the road.

“Thank you,” gasped the man, reaching to grasp at his rescuer’s arms only to be shoved away. “I’m Kevin, from -“

“I don’t care.” The blond man had turned, and a second man, identical to the first, slid down the side of the clearing. “Where’s the string?” He muttered to the man who had to be his twin, as Kevin stared. “You’d better get the string back or Nicky won’t shut up about it for days.”

“String?” Kevin gaped at them. The second man had returned to the bushes, which rustled and shook for a moment until he returned with a number of long spools of string. “You mean, you don’t have an entire band of men? You-“

“Keep your voice down, idiot,” snarled the second man, rolling the string up and slipping it into a pocket. “If they know it was just me and my brother they’ll come charging back. Don’t make me regret helping you any more than I already do.”

“Thank you both so much,” Kevin sighed, looking between them and met with identical blank stares. “I’m on my way to-“

“Are you deaf, as well as stupid enough to be caught hunting in the King’s woods?” interrupted the first man. “We don’t care who you are, or where you’re going. We got you free from the Sherriff’s men because they were bloodthirsty idiots who were going to cut off your hand instead of just sticking you in the stocks for a few days like you clearly deserve. Now fuck off.”

Kevin looked to the man’s twin, but only received raised eyebrows and a pointed glance to the direction of the road. Defeated, he muttered another ‘thanks’, picked up his bow and left.

***

“What took you so long?” Nicky complained in lieu of greeting as his cousins appeared through the trees in front of him. “And where the fuck is the rabbit? I’m starving!”

“Ran into some of the Sherriff’s men,” grunted Aaron, and quickly continued to cut off the distressed ramblings rising to the front of Nicky’s expression. “They’d caught another hunter and Andrew made us stay and stop them from cutting off his fingers.”

“Andrew!” Nicky exclaimed. “I knew you cared about people!”

A knife flashed in Andrew’s hands but Nicky’s grin didn’t fade. “Oh, we’re almost at Palmetto, and then we’ll be alright, you’ll see! And I can _eat_ , at last! You know,” he snuck a sideways glance at the twins, ”I can feel a song coming on…”

“No.” The twins rarely spoke in unison, and the rarity of the occurrence was enough that Nicky’s grin grew and he was not in the least discouraged.

“It would be a cheery song!” He protested. “A cheery song because we’re almost home!”

“It would be a tragedy.” Andrew corrected, spinning one of his knives in his fingers. “A tragedy for you to have come all this way, to be within a few miles of Palmetto, only to be stabbed to death by your own cousin.”

Nicky rolled his eyes. “It’s lucky I don’t easily take offence.” He huffed, “A smaller man would be offended right now.”

Aaron snorted. “And a cleverer man would sing fewer songs.” At that, his brother tipped two fingers to his head in the same mocking salute as earlier, and they continued through the woods in his wake.

***

It was early the next morning when the three found themselves on the outskirts of Palmetto, the village where Nicky had grown up. For a working village, the streets were quiet. No children were playing in the dusty paths.

“Hey!” Nicky called, smiling, to an old man working out the front of his house. Without looking up, the man dropped his tools and hurried into his house, slamming the door behind him. “What the fuck?” Nicky whispered to himself, looking around to see if anyone else was outside. One woman, scrubbing something in a wooden pail, caught his eye. “Abby!” he called. “Abby! It’s Nicky!”

“Nicky Hemmick?” the woman asked, dropped her washing and standing with wide eyes. “Nicky Hemmick, is that you back?”

“Miss me?” Nicky grinned, before gesturing to the twins behind him. “And these are my cousins, Aaron and Andrew. You remember? Aaron visited once or twice when we were small.”

Abby smiled at the twins, but faltered when neither of them returned the expression, and turned back to Nicky with a worried look. “They’re not going to cause any trouble, are they Nicky?” she asked. “Only, there’s a new Sherriff, and-“

“Ah yes,” Andrew spoke up, his blank expression not changing but his voice scornful. “The new Sherriff, whose guards seem to think that killing a rabbit merits losing a hand. Sounds like an interesting fellow, don’t you think?”

“Don’t joke,” Abby replied, her voice low. “That’s just how it is these days. Some of the younger folk are calling him the Butcher, and it fits. He’s a bloodthirsty man, the new Sherriff. And taxes have never been higher. It’s all we can do to feed ourselves, let alone pay his men when they come round for their due. People are starving, and when they get desperate enough to try stealing or keeping something back from the Sherriff’s men, that’s when you see that he’s not known as the Butcher for nothing.”

Just then, the thunder of hooves thudded into the village, raising dust and crashing to a halt in the centre of the settlement. More guards, like the ones Andrew and Aaron had seen in the forest, and at their head a tall man, also all in black, with a long cloak threaded with black feathers around the hood and a cruel set to his mouth as he looked around at the villagers who were peering around barely-open doors.

“Someone has been hunting in the King’s Wood.” He proclaimed in a loud, clear voice. “The game in those woods, in case it was not clear, belongs to the King. It does not belong to miserable, snivelling villagers. “ He gestured for one of his men to grab a nearby villager, a young boy. “Was it you?” he asked, in a voice that promised punishment, regardless of guilt. “A little runt like you, sneaking into the woods and taking food that is not yours to eat?”

The boy whimpered in the man’s grip, and the man smiled, slipping a long knife from his belt. “Admit guilt, and I may show lenience,” he said, slowly bringing the knife up to the boy’s face.

“Please, Sir Riko,” whimpered the boy. “Please, I didn’t-“

Andrew, whose face had gone impossibly blank, stepped forward, eyes on man – Riko – who was caressing the boy’s face with the flat of his long blade. “Interesting choice of scapegoat,” he interrupted in a voice that sounded almost bored, but had a dangerous undercurrent that had Nicky swearing under his breath behind him. “That boy hardly looks as though he has been feasting on anything, let alone stolen game.”

Riko’s eyes turned maliciously to the newcomer, narrowed and cold. “And who the fuck are you?” he sneered.

“My cousin,” Nicky interjected, hurrying to stand beside Andrew. He went to put a hand on his cousin’s shoulder, but thought better of it and clasped his hands behind his back instead. “I’ve been away for a while, Nicky Hemmick? I went to meet my cousins on the road and help them travel back here. They’ll be staying with me in the House.” He gestured to the larger dwelling to the edge of the village.

“Ah, Hemmick…” Riko released the boy and turned to face the three travellers. “Your family has been absent from this village for some time. The Sherriff placed it under my care in your absence.”

“Looks like you’re not needed any more, then,” Andrew spoke up again, a manic grin breaking the blankness of his expression but not quite meeting his eyes. “Fly back to your nest, little raven. This village isn’t yours any more, no need for threatening or maiming, off you go!”

The villagers seemed frozen, breath held, not daring to move as their eyes flickered between Riko and Andrew, who was once again skilfully flipping a knife over and over in his fingers. “If you have a problem with my style of leadership,” growled Riko, “I suggest you take it up with the Sherriff.”

“Oh, he will,” Aaron said from behind his brother. “He tends to follow these things through.” Aaron looked as though he would rather Andrew sometimes did not follow things through quite so thoroughly.

Riko’s smile did not reach his eyes, either. “I will inform the Sherriff of your family’s return.” He gestured to his men and they turned, thundering back the way they had come and leaving dust hanging in the air in their wake.

***

“This is Wymack’s house,” Nicky explained to Andrew as they approached the door to a house that was slightly larger than the others in the main village. “He was the Sherriff when we left to find you. He should have some answers for us.” He knocked on the door, which swung open.

“Wyma-“ he started, before he was angrily interrupted.

“Go away!” a large man barked at them from the doorway. “You need to leave!”

“Wyamck, it’s me, it’s-“

“I know who you are!” the former Sherriff snapped. “You can’t come in! Leave now!”

“But-“ Nicky frowned, leaning towards the furious man. “I-“

“You heard him.” A new voice came from the open doorway. “Leave.”

A thin man with red hair had a bow nocked and aimed at Nicky, Aaron and Andrew. Blue eyes narrowed at them as Nicky gaped. “Who’s this?” he asked Wymack. “A new stray?”

“Of a sort,” Wyamck replied. “Not quite in the way that you’re thinking, but I am trying to help him. Which means you boys cannot be seen here, we can’t have attention drawn here.”

The stranger was still glaring, blue eyes cold and hard and arrow steady. Nicky smiled at him. “We mean no harm,” he said in a friendly voice. “Well I mean no harm, Andrew sometimes means harm and it’s hard to tell with Aaron. I’m Nicky –“

“Congratulations.” The stranger’s voice was flat and unwelcoming. “Now leave.”

“Yeah.” Aaron grabbed the back of Nicky’s shirt and tugged him away. “We’re leaving.”

The door slammed behind them.

“Interesting.” Andrew stared at the closed door.

“Interesting?” Burst Aaron. “It’s unbelievable! Wymack would never have turned us away before! What the fuck is going on?”

“I think,” said Andrew, his eyes still on the closed door of Wymack’s house, “that we need to talk to the new Sherriff.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

Laughter filled the cold room, echoing off the stone walls and ringing in Riko Moriyama’s ears as he stood before the Sheriff.

“How many men did you say there were, Riko?” the Sheriff asked, still grinning his cold shark’s grin.

“Three.” Riko muttered sullenly.

“And how many men do _you_ have, Riko?”

The younger man looked away, glaring at the wall behind the Sheriff’s head. “Twenty.”

“And you let them drive you away!” The Sheriff’s mocking words filled the room as he reclined on his chair. “You’re almost as much of a disappointment as my son.”

“I would - appreciate,” Riko bit out, “some support on this matter, given that we-“

The Sheriff waved a lazy hand. “Yes, yes. You’ll have the village back within the month. Now, speaking of my useless son, where is he? It’s time to meet the snivelling masses and it is always best to present a united front.”

***

Voices filtered through the crack in the heavy wooden doors as Andrew strode up the corridor towards the Sheriff’s meeting with the local nobility. Nicky hurried after him.

“Andrew, I really think it would be better if I-“

“Shh, Nicky.”

“It’s just that I’m the one who-“

Andrew spun to face his cousin, who was slightly breathless from hurrying to keep up. He stared at Nicky in silence for a moment, until the taller man sagged slightly. “Oh, all right then,” he waved his hand. “Just try not to piss them off too much, won’t you? We only just got home, Andrew.”

Andrew turned on his heel again without acknowledging Nicky’s words, and pushed open the doors.

The voices stopped.

Standing in the doorway, a nervous Nicky peering over his shoulder, Andrew surveyed the room. Local nobility sat in a loose semi-circle, frozen in the act of turning to see who was disturbing them. Wyamck was among them, his eyebrows raised in surprise and mouth downturned in resignation. Opposite the door, sat next to the man from the village earlier – _Riko_ his memory supplied – was a large man with red hair, and stood behind him, almost hiding in the shadow of a stone pillar, was the thin man who had sent them away from Wymack’s house a few hours earlier. Upon seeing Andrew, this man’s eyes widened, and he shot a glance at the man who must be the Sheriff and also, Andrew mused with a fleeting look at the matching auburn hair and icy eyes, probably the younger man’s father. Shifting his gaze back to the larger figure of the Sheriff, Andrew stepped into the room and sunk into an empty seat, dimly registering Nicky moving to stand behind his chair.

“Carry on,” he gestured to the Sheriff with a sardonic grin. But before the first man could finish his idiotic rambling about increasing taxes, Andrew cut in again. “No, no, no,” he shook his head in disappointment that even he was unsure was mocking or real.

The Sheriff raised an eyebrow. “You have a better suggestion…?”

“Minyard,” Andrew finished for him. “And yes, as a matter of fact I do. Just stop all taxes. Oh, Sheriff, it seems like such simple maths, such a shame that none of your underlings seem capable of it. How can a man provide for the tax man when he can’t even provide for himself?”

“It is simple.” The Sheriff leaned forwards. “A man who can provide for himself is a comfortable man, a lazy man. Lazy men don’t want to work. We need hungry men. Men who aren’t hungry grow lazy and weak. Isn’t that right, Nathaniel?” He turned, then, to address the man behind him who, Andrew noticed with interest, barely suppressed a flinch. Nathaniel met his father’s eyes and blinked with a nod so small that it may have simply been a tremor, had the room been colder. His eyes found Andrew’s again, but flickered nervously back to the Sheriff. _Interesting_.

“Then I _trust_ ,” Andrew leaned forwards as well, “that at the dinner to celebrate my cousin’s return tonight, that _none_ of you strong men will be feasting?” His eyes flicked behind the Sheriff one last time, but Nathaniel was staring at the floor though, his lips twitched imperceptively in what Andrew chose to interpret as a smile.

As he left the hall, Andrew turned a corner and found himself face to face with the furious glare of the Sheriff’s son.

“That was stupid.” Nathaniel rebuked in a whisper, eyeing Nicky briefly before focusing on Andrew as the main culprit.

“That was necessary.” Andrew corrected. “Taking every last scrap of food from every peasant in sight hardly makes for a sustainable economy. And what exactly is the Sheriff’s son doing hiding out at his predecessor’s house, hm?”

Nathaniel’s face went white, then rapidly flushed to an angry red. “Shut the fuck up! Are you really as naïve as you seem? Do you really think that you can pick fights with m- with the Sheriff and get away with it? You think you can slight him in public? You’re an idiot. After that little display, Wymack thinks he’d better meet with you all after all. His house is watched, though. Don’t go until after midnight.”

“My, you are interesting,” Andrew replied, raising his eyebrows in exaggerated surprise. “Nicky, isn’t he interesting? What a tidy little conundrum you are, Nathaniel.”

Again, an almost-supressed flinch. “Don’t-“ Nathaniel started, but cut himself off. “Remember,” he said instead. “Not until after midnight.”

And he was gone before either of them could reply.

***

It wasn’t very long afterwards that Andrew and Nicky were back in the Sheriff’s halls, this time with Aaron as they attended the celebration dinner to ‘welcome’ Nicholas Hemmick back to Palmetto. Andrew noticed with a dim anger that the local nobility certainly _were_ feasting, and that the amount of food on the table would likely have been enough to feed the entire village of Palmetto. As they stood on one of the many balconies overlooking the hall, the sound of footsteps on the stone flagstones made them turn.

“Minyards! Hemmick!” The Sheriff’s smile was cold and fierce, mirrored by Riko’s smug expression and a sharp contrast to the carefully blank face of Nathaniel, who stood reluctantly behind them both. “What? Missing your own feast? But then, you’re probably hiding from the gossip and rumours. Rumours abound, particularly about you, my friend.” He nodded at Andrew, who moved his gaze from contemplating the defeated set of Nathaniel’s shoulders to meet the cold, amused eyes of his father.

“Rumours?” He asked.

“Hmm.” The Sheriff turned to watch the feast below. “Rumours that you’re weak. That you’ll let anyone just… walk all over you. You might put up a good show with those knives of yours, but I hear that when it comes down to it you’re quite yielding. As I said, weak.”

Andrew registered Nicky grabbing hold of Aaron’s arm behind him, to the apparent amusement of the Sheriff. “No matter, though,” the Sheriff continued, that smile still firmly in place. “In your absence at the feast tonight we have nominated you to oversee tomorrow’s… entertainment. That ought to assure the masses of your conviction.”

“Entertainment?” Nicky frowned.

“Hangings,” Aaron guessed, and the Sheriff’s smile grew sharper at Nicky’s groan.

“No.” Andrew said.

“Yes.” The Sheriff replied, and for once his smile reached his eyes, a nasty glee lighting them briefly. “I don’t want rumours of weakness amongst the nobility to spread. Better squash them now. And what better way than a public execution, eh Junior?” Nathaniel drew in a sharp breath at that and Andrew flicked his gaze to his, but Nathaniel otherwise maintained his silence, which only seemed to feed the Sheriff’s smile as he turned and left. Riko stared at Andrew for a second longer, but when Nathaniel turned to follow his father, Riko’s arm shot out to stop him.

“Nathaniel. Might I have the pleasure of your company?” Nathaniel froze, his eyes on the door, the turned back. He swallowed, then met Riko’s gaze and smiled. Nathaniel’s smile, like his father’s, did not meet his eyes, but that was the only similarity in the two expressions.

“Of course.” Nathaniel’s eyes flickered to Andrew’s again, but he allowed himself to be led away my Riko’s grip on his arm.

***

At midnight, the moon casting a colourless glow on the surroundings, Andrew knocked softly on Wymack’s door while Aaron and Nicky kept lookout behind him. The door opened a crack and Nathaniel’s face peered through, a dark bruise shadowing his jaw in the silvery moonlight.

“My my.” Andrew greeted him. “Was the pleasure of Riko’s company not all it was promised?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Nathaniel retorted as he stepped aside to let them in.

“You’re becoming repetitive, Nathaniel,” chided Andrew as he stepped past, but this time the other man didn’t stop himself as he flinched.

“Don’t call me that,” he warned, “I’d rather not share a name with my father. Just Neil works fine, as long as he’s not around to hear it.”

Andrew studied ‘Just Neil’ for a moment: his red hair and blue eyes so like his father’s; the eyebrows furrowed in a strange combination of resignation and defiance so unlike the Sheriff’s cold, calculating amusement. “Okay,” he agreed.

“Wymack!” Nicky’s whispered exclamation jolted him out of his contemplation. “Wymack what is going on?”

“Sorry about before, boys,” Wymack sighed, lowering himself into a chair. “If Neil is going to be allowed to come here undetected then this house needs to stay low-profile.”

“Why does he need to come here?” asked Aaron. Neil turned his bruised face towards Aaron and stared at him. “…Yeah, okay.” Aaron conceded.

“Wymack, I repeat, what the ever-loving shit is going on??” Nicky asked, waving his hands. “How did this ‘butcher’ become Sheriff over you, when he’s such a dick?” He glanced at Neil. “No offense.”

Neil looked amused despite himself. “You think I’m about to object?” He asked. “I think I know more than you about what a dick my father is.”

“Who is this hanging that he wants Andrew to oversee tomorrow?” Aaron asked.

“A man caught stealing food from the town stores,” Neil replied. “My- the Sheriff decided that losing a hand was too lenient and an example needs to be made.”

Nicky looked outraged. “That’s a complete miscarriage of justice!” He protested. “Andrew, we can’t just-“

“You _have to let him die_!” Neil hissed urgently. “It’s a test. If you save him there will be consequences! You think ‘Butcher’ is an affectionate nickname? How much good are you going to be to the rest of the villagers if you all get yourselves killed over saving one thief?”

Andrew said nothing.

***

Standing on the steps of the Sheriff’s fort, Andrew kept his face blank and expressionless as he watched the gathering crowd around the gibbet. Beside him, Aaron’s face was equally blank but on his other side, Nicky’s eyes were glistening. The Sheriff stood to their right, making a speech about justice and the law that Andrew listened to with half an ear, focusing most of his attention on the way Neil kept his eyes downcast behind his father, only occasionally flicking a glance at the crowd and shifting uncomfortably next to Riko.

As the Sheriff’s speech ended, the doors to the right of the steps opened, and two guards led out the prisoner to be hanged. A spark of recognition jumped in Andrew’s chest as he realised it was the same hunter that he and Aaron saved in the woods. _What a fucking idiot_. As the man – _Kevin_ , he remembered – was led onto the wooden platform, he looked at Andrew and Aaron and his eyes widened hopefully. Aaron started next to Andrew, but luckily had the sense to keep his mouth shut. Andrew breathed, _it’s a_ test, he heard Neil’s words whisper again in his memory _pass, and you can help the rest of them._ He nodded to the man on the platform besides Kevin, and the man pulled a lever. Nicky gasped. Averting his eyes slightly to watch the crowd, Andrew blinked, then sighed. “For fuck’s sake,” he muttered, and nudged Aaron slightly with his elbow. His brother glanced at him. Andrew met his eye for a split second, then, as Aaron lunged for one of the guards standing around them, Andrew used the distraction to hurl one of his knives towards the gallows.

“Wha-?” Nicky started, but caught on gratifyingly quickly and tackled the other guard, who had moved to hold Andrew. The knife sliced cleanly through the rope and Kevin dropped, gasping, to the floor.

“Get him!” roared the Sheriff, and the guards in the crowd surged forward to Kevin.

“Andrew-“ Nicky cried a warning, and Andrew turned to see a third guard on the steps, bow aimed at him, until a stone smacked smartly into his hand where it gripped the wood of the bow. The guard swore as he fumbled with the weapon, and Andrew used the distraction to smack the man’s head against the wall of the fort. He turned in the direction the stone had come from. He met blue eyes, and Neil’s mouth twitched upwards the barest amount before he stepped aside as Riko charged past him, armed, to join the fray. Andrew raised his hand to his forehead in a two-fingered salute as he turned to join Aaron and Nicky where they had grabbed the reins of two horses tied at the side of the square, taken one for themselves and pulled a still gasping Kevin onto the other. Dodging under Riko’s arm, Andrew swung himself onto the second horse behind Kevin and grasped the reins, his arms holding the disoriented man in place as he swayed on the horse. Ignoring the Sheriff’s furious roar, they steered the horses through the gates and onto the road to the forest.

***

Horses tied to a nearby tree, the four men sat in a small clearing not unlike the one where Andrew and Aaron had first saved Kevin.

“Thank you all again, so much,” Kevin repeated hoarsely, rubbing this throat. “If there is anything I can do-“

“I don’t think any of us has much in the way of prospects right now,” Nicky smiled ruefully at Kevin. “But seeing as we’re all in this mess together, we may as well stick together, eh?”

Before Kevin could reply, a voice called out from above them, where the sides of the clearing rose steeply. “Oi!” The newcomer called and, looking up, they saw that it was not one, but five. Three men, with arrows drawn and aimed at the four below, and two women, one of which was the voice who had shouted to them.

“This is our forest,” she called, drawing a knife from her belt as she stared down at them with her companions. “And we don’t take kindly to intruders.”


End file.
